Shi Pengpeng was taken aback for a moment before she finally reacted, exclaiming in surprise, “You still have it?”
She had only drawn a talisman for Yan Jing once before, on that night they spent together in the mountains.
Back then, the young master Yan was both arrogant and picky, disdainful of everything she offered.
Shi Pengpeng had assumed that he would have thrown it away immediately after they left the mountains.
She never expected that he would keep it until now.
“Yes, I’ve carried it with me all these years,” Yan Jing said in a calm tone, as if he were stating the most ordinary thing in the world.
But his gaze was intense, no longer trying to hide the unease in his heart, which was more unsettling than encountering a ghost.
Many years ago, on that thrilling night, Shi Pengpeng, still somewhat childish in her demeanor, had hastily drawn the talisman in a moment of urgency and handed it to him with a rare gentleness, saying, “Brother, don’t worry, I’m here.”
The night breeze was cool, and the moonlight fell into the girl’s glass-like eyes, making them shine brighter than the stars and more enchanting than peach blossoms.
That was the first time Yan Jing witnessed the Qilin Talisman Technique, and he watched in awe as she fiercely drove a powerful ghost into a frantic retreat.
At that moment, his heart had pounded just as fiercely as it did now, more intensely than any ghostly encounter he had ever experienced.
She was terrifying.
That was what the young Yan Jing had thought.
Shi Pengpeng looked at him, then at the talisman, and suddenly understood something.
She sighed and patted his shoulder, “I get it.”
Yan Jing’s heart skipped a beat, “You get it?”
Shi Pengpeng nodded, still a bit embarrassed, “It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have scared you back then. I didn’t expect it would haunt you for so many years, to the point where you still can’t bring yourself to throw away this talisman…”
Yan Jing:”…..”
What exactly do you get?
This wasn’t the time for a heart-to-heart.
Seeing that the clay figures were almost upon them, Yan Jing took a deep breath and said resolutely, “You go ahead and fight, I’ll stay out of the way.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, he felt a twinge of regret.
If he hadn’t been so self-centered in the past, if he had overcome just a little of his aversion to the supernatural and learned a bit of magic, he might have been able to help now.
But it was too late for regrets.
The best he could do was to protect himself and not become a burden to her.
At least he had some martial arts skills and was quite agile.
He quickly turned around and retreated behind the layers of paper offerings, doing his best to hide himself.
Seeing this, Shi Pengpeng inexplicably smiled, feeling a sense of relief and even a hint of pride.
Her brother had truly stepped up!
No longer holding back, Shi Pengpeng immediately formed hand seals, and the Four Symbols Talisman Array rose, transforming into an invisible giant cage that blocked the swarm of clay figures rushing toward her.
On the other side, Shan Ren and Bai Wanmu were also surrounded by the clay figures.
Shan Ren had no choice but to engage in close combat.
His martial arts were formidable, and combined with Buddhist techniques, he managed to shatter many of the clay figures’ bodies.
Bai Wanmu, on the other hand, resorted to her usual tactics.
Since her Gu techniques couldn’t control the fleshless clay figures, she summoned swarms of insects to devour them.
The sound of “rustling” filled the air as the limbs of the clay figures crumbled, sending dust flying everywhere.
But soon, both of them began to feel the strain.
“Something’s wrong, these clay figures seem to have gained sentience!” Bai Wanmu shouted urgently.
She had initially thought these clay figures were just low-level puppets controlled by Zhao Xiwen, but after a few rounds, she clearly sensed that something was amiss.
The yin energy emanating from these clay figurines was extremely heavy, far surpassing that of ordinary clay sculptures.
The insects she summoned, if slightly weaker, couldn’t withstand it at all-they would die instantly upon touching the clay bodies.
As Shan Ren continued to fight, his limbs were gradually invaded by the yin energy, turning black.
If the battle went on, he might develop corpse poison.
Moreover, these clay figurines clearly possessed self-awareness.
Not only did they adjust their battle formations according to the situation, but they also repaired their bodies by molding clay after being damaged.
Such magical power and intelligence are usually only found in spirits that have formally cultivated a Dao body.
And such spirits are undoubtedly difficult to deal with.
Back in the forest, just one wood spirit had given them a hard time.
Here, there were hundreds of clay figurines.
If they had all truly become earth spirits, then it would be extremely difficult for them to leave this mausoleum tonight.
“Become spirits?” Shi Pengpeng frowned, instinctively feeling that it was unlikely.
For inanimate objects to become spirits is not easy.
Like the funeral canopy, fire spirit, and tea pet she had encountered before, they all required specific circumstances, and many had only gained some influence without forming a Dao body or possessing sufficient intelligence.
Even the wood spirit in this small imperial mausoleum had only gained its level of cultivation due to a drop of cursed blood in its chest.
If the formation here was powerful, it wouldn’t be strange for one or two clay figurines to become spirits.
But to refine hundreds of clay figurines into spirits simultaneously was almost impossible.
If the Longevity Island had such capabilities, they wouldn’t have been so quickly eradicated by the anti-fraud team.
Shi Pengpeng looked at the precarious Four Symbols Talisman Formation, feeling deeply puzzled.
Like Bai Wanmu, she sensed that the yin energy from these clay figurines was too strong the overwhelming resentment couldn’t even be contained by the formation that had absorbed the essence of the Two Polarities.
Could it be that these clay figurines also had cursed blood?
But cursed blood isn’t like cabbage, available for wholesale in the market.
In the distance, Zhao Xiwen swung his Zigan Sword again, his tone full of mockery:
“Shi Pengpeng, is that all you’ve got?”
The clay figurines erupted with even stronger yin energy, and the Four Symbols Talisman Formation instantly burst into flames.
As the ashes scattered and the talisman was broken, the two leading clay figurines leaped in front of Shi Pengpeng, roaring and reaching out to grab her.
“Yikes, that’s terrifying!” Shi Pengpeng gasped, throwing a punch at the chest of the nearest clay figurine.
With a “thud,” a fist-sized chunk of clay fell to the ground, leaving a large hole in the figurine’s chest.
Zhao Xiwen:”….”
All the clay figurines:”……”
Even Shan Ren, known for his martial prowess, couldn’t help but glance over in surprise.
He had seen Shi Pengpeng’s strength before, but he was still taken aback after all, these weren’t ordinary clay sculptures.
He praised, “Master Shi, what a fierce punch! I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“You flatter me,” Shi Pengpeng replied modestly, generously sharing her technique.
“I just applied the mantra I cultivated from my birth characters to my fist.”
Shan Ren: “……?”
Shi Pengpeng chuckled, “My birth characters are very strong.”
Shan Ren: “……? ? ? “
He did know that in the mystical arts, it’s said that the universe is filled with righteous energy, which manifests in various forms.
If one’s birth characters are inherently strong, vast and unyielding, and nurtured without harm, they can indeed fill the universe and have the effect of warding off evil spirits.
But to refine the Eight Characters into a spell formula and use it to stack spell damage??
This mage’s thinking is undoubtedly too ahead of its time.
Shi Pengpeng, unaware of Shan Ren’s complex emotions, continued to pound the other clay figures while distractedly checking the clay fragments she had smashed out of them with the corner of her eye.
She had specifically targeted the heart area of the clay figures.
If these figures had any cursed blood, it should be there.
However, on the ground, there were only shattered pieces of clay, with no trace of heart blood.
The clay figure with a hole in its chest was momentarily frightened by her fist, but its movements were not significantly affected.
After a brief pause, it quickly retreated and began kneading clay to repair its body.
“They’re not spirits…” Shi Pengpeng concluded, her confusion deepening.
Then why do they possess such power?
At that moment, Bai Wanmu suddenly exclaimed, “Ah! There are bones in the clay!”
“Huh?”
Shi Pengpeng looked closely and indeed saw a few white bone fragments in the clay that Bai Wanmu’s insects had gnawed away.
Her heart skipped a beat as she suddenly realized something.
She turned her head to re-examine the clay fragments she had smashed out earlier.
There were no bone fragments in this pile, but a few strands of hair were tangled within.
The hair was too fine, and she had been distracted, focused on searching for heart blood, so she hadn’t noticed it earlier.
Could it be… could it be…
Shi Pengpeng could hardly believe it.
She immediately performed a cloud step, reaching out to grab the nearest clay figure with one hand while using the other to take out a talisman to exorcise evil spirits and stuff it into the figure’s mouth.
“Mmm-” Before the clay figure could struggle, it was immobilized.
Shi Pengpeng grabbed the figure’s neck, flipping it around to face her directly.
As human and figure locked eyes, Shi Pengpeng’s heart suddenly ached.
The clay figure’s facial features were stiff and expressionless, but in its left eye, there was a pool of gray tears.
Shi Pengpeng felt a lump in her throat and asked, “Are you a living soul?”
Whether it was an illusion or not, for a moment, the clay figure’s eyes seemed to come alive, filled with sorrow and despair.
The clay figure opened its mouth, but only gurgling sounds came from its throat, unable to form a complete syllable.
Finally, with all its strength, it slowly nodded its head.
The gray tears in its eye socket rolled down, splashing onto Shi Pengpeng’s wrist.
The tears were eerie and cold, filled with deep-seated sin and resentment.
Wu Xiayu had once mentioned that Longevity Island had a malevolent curse that could refine evil spirits into objects.
At that time, to save Tan Pin and avoid falling into the hands of Longevity Island again, he had used this method to refine his own soul into Tan Pin’s left eye.
And now, Shi Pengpeng had witnessed firsthand how the Grand Preceptor used this curse.
She turned and shouted, “Senior Sister, Master, the souls you’re looking for are in the eyes of these clay figures!”
“What?!!” Bai Wanmu and Shan Ren were shocked.
They quickly performed hand seals to investigate.
The curse was extremely cunning, and it took them a while to confirm the situation and understand the truth.
The Grand Preceptor had actually mixed the dismembered bodies of the victims into the clay, creating these life-sized clay figures, and then refined their souls into them.
Corpse clay figures, clay-made yin soldiers.
No wonder these clay figures had such strong yin energy, and no wonder they possessed human consciousness.
It was just that the curse was too insidious and hidden, and the massive evil god array in the mausoleum, along with the yin-yang power of the Zigan Sword, had muddled the aura, so even Shi Pengpeng hadn’t noticed at first that these clay figurines were actually walking corpses trapping living souls.
“Not bad, not bad, Shi Pengpeng. It seems you do have some skills,” Zhao Xiwen squinted his eyes and laughed arrogantly.
“But what can you do even if you’ve discovered it? Can you save them? Or will you steel your heart and shatter their souls? Hahaha-huh!”
A yellow talisman suddenly shot toward him without warning.
“Still trying to use an exorcism talisman against me?” Zhao Xiwen sneered.
Even without the Zigan Sword, he could easily blow away such a talisman, let alone now.
“Overestimating yourself.”
He casually swung his sword, and a gust of wind rose from the ground, roaring toward the yellow talisman.
But contrary to expectations, the talisman wasn’t blown away.
Instead, upon sensing the power of the Zigan Sword, it suddenly erupted with an even more overwhelming force, piercing through the wind like a sharp blade.
In that instant, Zhao Xiwen seemed to hear a metallic clang, and he was immediately shocked:
“Refining talismans into weapons!”
He hurriedly tried to raise his sword to counter, but it was already too late.
With a “thud,” the yellow talisman, like a sharp knife, plunged into his shoulder.
If he hadn’t moved slightly, the talisman blade would have struck his throat.
Zhao Xiwen’s eyes widened in fury: “How is this possible!”
The so-called refining talismans into weapons was a technique that transformed talismans into blades or swords to fight enemies.
It was an extremely difficult art, requiring not only talent but also profound cultivation.
How could Shi Pengpeng, so young, refine a talisman weapon with such ferocity?
Even if he had been careless and hadn’t exerted his full strength, he had still used the Zigan Sword to cast the spell.
It shouldn’t have been so easily broken!
“Hmph, I’ve refined my birth characters into the talisman weapon,” Shi Pengpeng said coldly, her tone calm but laced with a chilling intent to kill.
“I just told you, my birth characters are very strong.”
“Just wait. I’m going to use my birth characters to cut you down.”